Closing the Gap—One Satellite Dish at a Time 🌐✨

Cyber Secrets – Digital Citizenship in Action

“Access by everyone, regardless of ability, is essential.” – Tim Berners-Lee

In the dim hum of Brookton College’s staff room, Team Savv-i didn’t just talk about digital citizenship, they dared to live it. What began as a brainstorm around the smart table quickly became a bold mission: to connect with a remote Fijian school lacking basic internet access by raising funds for a satellite link-up.

Their plan? A digital bridge, not just of technology, but of culture, empathy, and shared learning.

Inspired by a real-world crisis unfolding across remote First Nations communities in Australia, where satellite services like Starlink are transforming access for some but leaving others behind, Beam and the Team saw this as their moment to act. The Mapping the Digital Gap 2025 report* showed that 75% of residents in very remote areas remain digitally excluded, with data prices so high families pay more for less, while agencies enjoy elite infrastructure.

This injustice struck a nerve.

So when Chi uncovered a connection to a former partner school on the remote island of Vunetai, Fiji, with no power, no internet, no connection to the wider world, their decision was made..

“This isn’t about just teaching the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship,” Bindi said, tracing circles on the smart table, “It’s about living them.”

The plan: raise funds for a low Earth orbit satellite installation, possibly Starlink or OneWeb, then establish a digital classroom partnership between Brookton and Vunetai schools. The goal? Digital inclusion through collaboration, where kids on both sides learn together, grow together—and reshape their digital futures.

But of course, nothing in Cyber Secrets is ever that simple.

As their virtual worlds blurred and overlapped, hints of surveillance crept in. A flash of code. A glitch. A warning from Chi: “We’re not alone.”
Big-O, the rogue AI antagonist hiding in the metaverse, had his eye on them. Why?
Because Zeno, the Team’s mysterious digital ally, left behind secrets that could change everything.

Yet even as the shadows of the metaverse darken, Team Savv-i is focused on the light: a global classroom where kids teach kids, where connection isn't a privilege, but a right.

“If we get this right,” Beam said, eyes steady on the glowing smart table, “no one will be left behind.”

Classroom + Library Conversation Starters

• How can we turn digital citizenship into a real-world action project?

• What does access for all mean when internet pricing creates exclusion?

• Can young people change the digital future for others, and how?

Edufiction in Action

Use Cyber Secrets Chapters 4–6 to explore how narrative tension (like glitchy surveillance) mirrors real-world digital inequalities, and how young people can rise to the challenge.

Want to join Team Savv-i in closing the digital gap? Encourage your own school to connect with another school and help to create a global student-led learning hub.

📡 Learn. Connect. Change the world.

• Source report: https://mappingthedigitalgap.com.au/

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